Focus on selling

The new multi-variation listing format will enable you to showcase your stock and offer buyers great selection from just one listing. Price each variation of your item just the way you want and sell all the colours and sizes for a single listing fee.
Multi-variation listings help your customers to find what they want!

Use multi-variation listings to maximise your sales.

• Try multi-variation Buy It Now listings for new listings. If you end current single and multi-quantity Buy It Now listings and move inventory from these to a new multi-variation listing, the recent sales scores of the original listings will not be carried over and you will lose the sales history on these listings. Therefore we recommend that you use multi-variation listings with new inventory only.
• Consider Featured First as a way to jump-start a recent sales score for your new listings. Just one feature fee covers the entire listing, including all variations, so it could work out to be a good deal.
• Inventory with good supply is best. Select items for which you have consistent supply and ready access.
• Keep your listing stocked. You can add inventory to any variation at any time, even after there have been purchases.
• Use lots of pictures! You can upload multiple sets of picture variations. You pay for only one set—the set with the most pictures.
• List with long duration—30 day or Good ‘Til Cancelled—to build your recent sales score. You pay the same listing fee as you would normally. (Good 'Til Cancelled listings are automatically renewed for the same fee every 30 days).
• Remember, your position in Best Match search results is based on a variety of factors including recent sales, the relevance of your listing title, item cost, your track record as a seller (DSRs), and Free P&P. Get more tips for making Best Match work for you.

What are multi-variation Buy It Now listings?

Multi-variation Buy It Now listings allow you to include multiple variations of one product, such as colour and size, in one low-cost, multi-quantity Buy It Now listing, and price each variation differently. For example, you could create a listing that combines all the colours and sizes in your inventory of Gap Women’s Lambswool Cardigans and charge £29.95 for regular sizes and £39.95 for plus sizes.

What’s the difference between the new multi-variation Buy It Now listing and the current “choice” listings?
With multi-variation listings sellers can manage their inventory right in the listing – as items sell, remaining quantities for each variation are automatically adjusted. Buyers also select the variations they want from drop-down menus before clicking the “Buy” button.

Why is eBay introducing multi-variation Buy It Now listings?

We're introducing multi-variation listings for two main reasons:

1. to provide buyers an easier, more familiar shopping experience for popular products
2. to provide sellers a way to significantly reduce costs by combining many single-quantity and/or multi-quantity Buy It Now listings into one, with the ability to manage their inventory within the listing.

In which categories will multi-variation listings be available?
Multi-variation listings will be available in Men’s and Women’s Shoes from 16th June, and in other selected Clothes, Shoes & Accessories, and Home & Garden categories in late summer 2009. Other categories will be included in 2010.

How do multi-variation listings work with Best Match?
As with all Buy It Now listings, Best Match looks at a number of factors: recent sales, the relevance of your listing title, item cost, your track record as a seller (DSRs), and Free P&P.

In a multi-variation Buy It Now listing, each variation has its own Best Match score. Which score is used depends on how the buyer searches. The position of the listing in search is based on the highest Best Match score of the variation that match the buyers search. Get more tips for making Best Match work for you.

Can I add quantity to multi-variation listings after there are purchases?
Yes, you can add quantity even after there are purchases for a variation.

Can I convert my existing listings to multi-variation listings and vice-versa?
If you want to convert one or more existing listings to a multi-variation listing, you will need to end your existing listings and create a new one.

Conversely, if you have a multiple-variation item listing and want to change it to another format, you have to end that listing in order to use the merchandise in that listing for a different format.

What happens to the recent sales scores of my original listings?
As with any other Buy It Now listings, if you end the listing, its recent sales score is ended as well. That’s why we recommend you list only new inventory in multi-variation listings. Consolidate existing listings only when the benefit of creating a new multi-variation listing outweighs the value of the recent sales scores of your current listings.

What factors reset the recent sales score of my multi-variation listing if I revise or relist?
As with any other Buy It Now listing, when you revise or relist, your recent sales score is reset only if you change the item condition, title, or category. For multi-quantity variation listings, the recent sales score is also reset for a specific variation when you change the information that defines that variation.

Does deleting or adding variations reset my recent sales score for the entire listing or other variations?
No, deleting or adding variations doesn’t reset the recent sales score of the other variations.

What are the Insertion Fees for multi-variation listings?
The Insertion Fee is the same as for current Buy It Now listings in the Clothes, Shoes & Accessories and Home & Garden categories.

How do the fees for listing upgrades such as Featured First or Gallery Plus work?
Fees for listing upgrades such as Gallery Plus or Featured First are applied only once to multi-variation listings, the same as for a multi-quantity Buy It Now listing. The single feature fee covers all variations in the listing.

What are the Final Value Fees for multi-variation listings?
Final Value Fees for each transaction on any variation are the same as for any other multi-quantity Buy It Now listing for the category, i.e. the rate that applies depends on the sale price.

Are extra pictures included with my Insertion Fee for multi-variation listings?
Yes, you can upload sets of pictures for variations. You pay for only one set – the set with the most pictures.

Can I use optional second categories for multi-variation Buy It Now listings?
You can use an optional second category for your multi-variation listing, provided both categories offer multi-variation listings.

What items cannot be combined in multi-variation Buy It Now listings?
Different brands and different functional products can’t be combined. In most cases this would be a breach of eBay’s Fee Avoidance policy. For example, you could not create a listing that combines different brands of fine gauge cotton cardigans into one listing. You could not create a listing with the traits Article, Size, Colour, where 'Article' refers to shirt, pants, and jacket to make the single listing include an entire outfit.

Can different variations from the same multiple-variation listing be included in a single transaction?
No, different variations must be purchased in separate transactions. However, as for current multi-quantity Buy It Now items, it is possible to purchase a multiple quantity of one variation in a single transaction.